Closing Britain's prestigious summer-long concert series is no small feat. During the eight-week run, thousands of music lovers flock to the Proms each night to hear performances from the world's most renowned orchestras.

Though the honor is not lost on the 56-year-old Baltimore native, she's far from impressed by the slow progress of achieving gender equality inside the concert hall.

Fast-forward a year and her appointment to close the Proms has received copious amounts of press attention in the UK and abroad.

But with so few well-known leading female conductors in the classical world, an ever-constant sexism row looms just off stage. Most recently, Russian conductor Vasily Petrenko comments sparked outrage when he told Norwegian newspaper Afterposten that "Men make better conductors."

Petrenko, the principal conductor of the UK's National Youth Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra went further saying a "sweet girl on the podium can make one's thoughts drift towards something else" while suggesting that "when women have families it is difficult to be as dedicated as is required in this business."

Petrenko has since clarified that he was referring to the classical music landscape in Russia and that he was misrepresented, according to reports from the London Evening Standard.

Despite the latest incident, Alsop says that things are slowly getting better for women in the industry.

She would go on to study her bachelor's and master's degrees in violin at Yale University and at The Julliard School, respectively. Later, Alsop developed as a conductor under Bernstein, her mentor.

As the first woman to lead a major U.S. orchestra, to this day, Alsop credits her mentor for teaching her "to put the music first."

Amongst her many achievements, she has been with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as music director since 2007. As for her international work, she's led London's Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and since last year, the Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra for which she is now the principal conductor.

"I wanted to be a conductor when I was nine ... it seems like overnight success but it was at least a decade of really hard work. Not dreaming that it could be a reality, that this could be my career and my life," she says.

Alsop remains the only conductor ever to have received the illustrious MacArthur Fellowship -- also known as the "genius grant" -- which is presented to U.S. residents in recognition of continued creative merit.

With education and youth empowerment close to the American conductor's heart, she initiated a slew of programs over the years.

Most notably, she started a fellowship for young female conductors in 2002, with three previous winners going on to become music directors themselves.

In a bid to give back to her local community, Alsop launched the "OrchKids" initiative in 2008, which aims to provide "music education, instruments, meals and mentorship" for young people in Baltimore.